Pen and pencil attachment device



Jan. 24, 1961 A. J. CAIN 2,968,849

PEN AND PENCIL ATTACHMENT DEVICE Filed June 29, 1956 INVENTOR Arihur :ICazrz ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 24, l 'til 2,968,849 PEN AND PENCIL ATTACHMENT DEVICE Arthur J. Cain, Rural Rte., New Alexandria, Pa. Filed June 29, 1956, Ser. No. 594,824 2 Claims. l C1. 24-41 The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in attachments for pens and pencils and more particularly to such improvements in an attachment by which a pen or pencil not equipped with a conventional pocket clip can be conventionally converted to such a pen or pencil to enable it to be secured in a clothing pocket or the like.

In general, the invention contemplates the provision of an attachment in the form of a sleeve through which a pen or pencil may beinserted for relatively secure attachment therein. The sleeve carries a pocket clip by which the sleeve-enclosed pen or pencil may be. secured in a clothing pocket or the like. More particularly, the invention is concerned with the provision of such an attachment which finds one of its principal uses in adapting a conventional wooden pencil, without attached pocket clip, to a pencil which may be conveniently supported in the pocket of a user.

With the above in mind, one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide an attachment sleeve for frictionally holding a pen or pencil therein so that the assembly may be conveniently attached to a clothing pocket of the user.

Another object of the invention is to provide an attachment device of the above type wherein the sleeve portion is shaped to friction-ally engage the body of an inserted pencil or pen for holding the same against relative movement.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment of the above type wherein the sleeve member includes at one end thereof a ring adapted for snap and positive engagement with the ribs around the annular metal end of a conventional wooden pencil.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an attachment device substantially of the above type where in the body of the sleeve is of resilient material deformed inwardly at least along a portion of its circumference for frictionally engaging the body of a pen or pencil when positioned between the ends of such pen or pencil.

The invention still further aims to provide an attachment of the above type wherein the body portion may be formed of a plastic or like material which may carry advertising matter or which may be provided with a variegated color arrangement to indicate club, society or similar membership.

The invention still further aims to provide an attachment device substantially of the above type which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which is readily assembled and which may be quickly and conveniently attached to or removed from a pen or pencil.

The above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out. i r i In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. l is a side elevation showing the attachment sleeve in position engaging the body of a conventional wooden pencil between the ends thereof;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the attachment sleeve shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section, taken substantially along 'the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, showing the upper ring of the attachment sleeve;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation, similar to Fig. l, but showing a modified form of attachment sleeve and engaged with the metal annulus at the top of a conventional wooden pencil;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section, taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, showing the threaded attachment between the ring and sleeve;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged section, taken substantially along the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation showing a further modified form of attachment sleeve attached to the metal annulus at the top of a conventional wooden pencil, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged section, taken substantially along the line 8-8 of Fig. 7.

In the accompanying drawings, the attachment sleeve is shown in association with a conventional wooden pencil having the usual hexagonal wooden body portion 10 topped by a metal annulus 12. This metal annulus is of the more or less conventional type having a plurality of annular ribs 14 and the annulus serves to secure a rubber eraser 16. While illustrated in connection with such a conventional type of wooden pencil, it is to be clearly understood that the present invention is also designed for use with any type of pen or pencil which is not equipped with the usual pocket clip. Thus, purchasers of such pens or pencils may, by use of the in stant attachment sleeve, readily convert such a pen or pencil to one which can be conveniently attached to or removed from the pocket of ones clothing.

Referring more in detail to the accompanying drawings, and particularly to Figs. 1 through 3 at this time, the attachment sleeve is illustrated as including a body portion 18 which is preferably formed of a material having some degree of resiliency and for convenience, this material may be one of the well known plastics such as polyethylene, polystyrene or the like, or a resilient metal sleeve. Snugly fitted and secured in suitable manner to the ends of the sleeve 18 are upper and lower ring members 20, 22, respectively, each being exteriorly recessed to receive the ends of the sleeve. These ring members serve as reinforcement elements, particularly when used with a plastic body, but have additional function as will be pointed out hereinafter.

A pocket clip 24 is secured to the sleeve member. In using a metal sleeve member, the pocket clip may be welded or otherwise suitably. secured thereto. On the other hand, in using a plastic material for the sleeve or some other material which may be rather easily punctured, the pocket clip may be provided with ears 26, 26a, which may be passed through the sleeve member and clinched over the inner surface thereof.

The sleeve member 18 has a portion of its circumference deformed inwardly, as at 28, and for convenience, this inwardly deformed portion may be diametrically opposed to the area of attachment of the pocket clip 24. Since the material of the sleeve 18 is resilient, the attachment sleeve may be secured to the pencil body below the metal annulus 12 at the top of the pencil. This positioning of the attachment sleeve is shown in Fig. 1, and the inwardly deformed surface 28 of the sleeve 18 is frictionally engaged and urged outwardly by the body of the pencil 10 so that the pencil is rathersecurely fixed in position relative to the sleeve. However, the sleeve assembly may be positioned at any point along the length of the pencil to adapt it for ready insertion in a pocket of ones clothing, depending upon the length of the pencil. And further, the sleeve assembly can be readily J removed from a used pencil and equally readily applied to a new one.

As shown in Fig. 3, the upper ring member 20 may be out-of-round and is illustrated as being slightly elliptical so that the proximate surfaces 30 thereof may also engage the pencil body. These proximate surfaces 30 are at points displaced substantially 90 with respect to the deformed surface 28 of the sleeve 18 to thus tend to prevent any wobbling of the pencil when held within the sleeve.

The sleeve assembly may also be conveniently attached to the metal annulus at the top of a conventional wooden pencil and to this end, the out-of-round shape of the upper ring member 20 provides this ring member with some resiliency so that theproximate surfaces 30 thereof may be snapped over the ribs 14 on the metal annulus and thus engage the annulus between such ribs for a more positive connection between the pencil and the sleeve assembly. To augment this snap and for more positive engagement, the upper ring member 20 may be provided with a very narrow inwardly directed flange or rib 32 which, itself, becomes interlocked between adjacent ribs 14 on the metal annulus when the sleeve assembly is snapped thereover. To facilitate engagement of the sleeve assembly and pencil, the lower ring member 22 may be of slightly larger and concentric formation so that it will pass freely over the outward ribs 14 on the metal annulus during initial assembly.

With such more or less positive interengagement of the sleeve assembly and pencil, there might be some tendency for the sleeve enclosed portion of the pencil to wobble with respect to the sleeve assembly but the inwardly deformed surface area 28, and its 90 displaced position with respect to the proximate surfaces 30 of the upper ring member 20 tends to prevent such relative wobbling by frictionally engaging the surface of the pencil below the ring member 20.

As an alternative to the deformation of the sleeve 18, as at 28, and also to prevent relative wobbling between the pencil and sleeve assembly, the sleeve member 18a of Fig. 4 may be truly cylindrical throughout its length but with the out-of-round upper ring member 20a. In this instance, the sleeve member 18a need not be made of resilient material. To prevent relative wobbling between the sleeve assembly and pencil in this instance, there may be provided an inner sleeve 34 in the nature of a filler to engage the surface of the pencil and prevent such relative wobbling between the pencil and the sleeve assembly. In this form of assembly, the ring members 20a, 22a, may be threaded, as at 21a, 23a, to engage the sleeve 18a. And as a further alternative, the inner sleeve 34a may be deformed slightly, as shown in Fig. 6, and generally in the nature of the deformation 28 shown in Fig. l, or it may be out-of-round as shown at 34b in Fig. 8, to add frictional engagement between the sleeve assembly and pencil, particularly where the sleeve 18a is not formed of resilient material.

In Fig. 7, there is shown a further modification of the sleeve member 18a which is generally similar to that shown in Fig. but in this instance, the sleeve member 18b may be provided with a flattened outer surface 36 to iivllgich may be applied a name, advertising material or the From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the present invention provides a pocket clip attachment for a pen or pencil by which pens or pencils without pocket clips may be conveniently converted to a pen or pencil which is adapted for attachment in a clothing pocket. The attachment sleeve may frictionally engage the body of the pen or pencil by means of the inward deformation or arched portion 28 of the resilient sleeve 18, or by the similarly shaped filler sleeve 34a or the out-ofround filler sleeve 34b. With any of the above mentioned types of attachment sleeves, the ring members at the ends thereof may be truly cylindrical without the necessity for their engagement with the pencil. However, when one of such ring members, such as the upper ring member, is formed out-of-round, as the ring member 20 in Fig. 3, this ring member may also engage the pencil body but is more particularly adapted for somewhat more positive interengagement with the metal annulus of a conventional wooden pencil between the outward ribs of such annulus, as shown in Fig. 5. The sleeve may be decorated in various ways, or'it may carry advertising material, or it may carry design or color schemes indicating membership in organizations, clubs, and the like. The selection of a plastic material for the sleeve will depend upon whether it is to be opaque, transparent or translucent and other prerequisites and in addition to the previously mentioned materials Teflon or Kel-F might be used to improve the ease of passing the pocket material between the clip and the sleeve member.

While certain forms of the invention have been shown and described for purposes of illustration, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An attachment device for a writing instrument, such as a pen or pencil, and comprising a sleeve member through which the instrument is adapted to be inserted, said sleeve member having a portion thereof deformed inwardly to an out-of-round shape along a portion of the surface thereof and being of sufficient resiliency to effect frictional engagement between the instrument and the deformed portion of the enclosing sleeve member, a pocket clip carried by said sleeve member, and an outof-round ring member secured to the upper end of said sleeve member and providing opposed proximate surfaces for additional frictional engagement with any enclosed instrument, and said proximate surfaces of the ring member being circumferentially displaced substantially with respect to the deformed portion of the sleeve member.

2. An attachment device for use with a. pencil having an annular ribbed metal end portion, and comprising an elongated sleeve through which the pencil is adapted to be inserted, said sleeve having fixed at its upper end a ring member which is out-of-round to present proximate surfaces effecting snap engagement with the ribs of said metal end portion, said sleeve being formed of resilient material with a portion thereof deformed inwardly and circumferentially spaced substantially 90 with respect to the proximate surfaces of said ring member to frictionally engage the inserted pencil to take up slack and prevent wobbling thereof with respect to the sleeve member, and a pocket clip carried by said sleeve.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 208,464 Christey Oct. 1, 1878 499,552 Kertel l June 13, 1893 508,096 Evans Nov. 7, 1893 586,495 Hicks July 13, 1897 865,119 Mussinan Sept. 3, 1907 1,110,518 Werner Sept. 15, 191 r 1,299,923 Easton Apr. 8, 1919 1,377,578 Harris May 10, 1921 1,395,793 Broschart Nov. 1, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS 697,104 Great Britain Sept. 16, 1953 

